Selling spree extends Colombo Bourse’s slump

• 11 Mar 2025
• 0

The Colombo Bourse carried the momentum of yesterday’s downturn into today’s session, as persistent selling sentiment exerted pressure on the market.

The ASPI closed in the red at 15,711, steadily falling from the market open and registering a drop of 290 points. Key negative contributors to the ASPI included HNB, SFCL, LOLC, COMB, and HAYL.

In contrast, positive contributors were limited in both number and impact, with CARG, LION, and ATL standing out as the most significant performers.

Turnover showed a recovery from yesterday’s low of LKR 824.6Mn, rising to LKR 2.5Bn, driven by intensified selling activity.

The participation of HNW investors increased, particularly in transactions involving Banking sector stocks. The Banking sector was the largest contributor to overall turnover, accounting for 41%, followed by the Diversified Financials and Capital Goods sectors, which together contributed 28%.

Buying interest emerges ahead of the T-Bond auction

In today’s weekly T-Bill auction, the weighted average yield rates remained broadly unchanged compared to previous week’s auction with only the 3M T-Bill declining by 1bps. Accordingly, the weighted average yield rates for the 3M, 6M, and 12M T-Bills stood at 7.52%, 7.86, and 8.34%, respectively.

Furthermore, CBSL offered a total of LKR 165.5Bn worth of T-Bills collectively, and this amount was fully subscribed. In the secondary market, the market participants shifted to a buying stance, resulting in moderate trading volumes, ahead of the LKR 210.0Bn worth T-Bond auction which is scheduled to be held tomorrow.

Amongst the traded maturities, notable trades were recorded in 2027, 2028, 2030 and 2031 bond maturities.  Accordingly, at the short end, 15.09.2027 bond traded between 9.55% to 9.45%, whilst towards the belly end of the curve, 15.02.2028, 15.03.2028, 01.05.2028 and 01.07.2028 bond maturities traded in the range of 10.20% to 10.00%.

Furthermore, 15.10.2028 and 15.12.2028 maturities traded in the range of 10.38% to 10.42% and 15.05.2030 maturity traded at 10.75% to 10.95%. 15.03.2031 traded between 11.35% to 11.32%.  Additionally, the CBSL holdings of government securities remained unchanged, closing at LKR 2,511.9Bn today.

Courtesy: First Capital Research

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